1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a parlor golf game for participation by one or more players. The game provides for elements of chance but is also highly realistic of an actual outdoor game of golf.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been many attempts in the past to capture the concept of the outdoor game of golf in a parlor game. These have covered a wide range of concepts in order to achieve some degree of realism. Those prior art golf games known to the applicant which are representative of those games which have previously achieved some degree of realism are disclosed, for example, by the U.S. Pat. No. 1,520,081 to Purnell; Zapolski, U.S. Pat No. 3,130,973; Carroll et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,355,175; Seitz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,526; Browne, U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,534; Boileau, U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,339; Strandgard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,246; and Conrad, U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,590. Although each of these patents may have represented improvements in the state of the art at the time that they were issued, and may have intrinsic value, they are not deemed to be anticipatory of the present invention.
In some instances, those patents recited above disclosed individual game boards representative of an entire golf course; in other instances they presented a board for an individual hole comprising tee, fairway, and green; and in some instances the representations of the course were limited to the confines of a carrying case. There were disclosures of a variety of random chance generating means including spinners, dice of various shapes, colors and indicia, spinner tops, and rotatable drums. Sometimes the information provided upon manipulation of the chance generating means required the use of scale devices for measuring distance and, possibly, directions, of the player's piece on the game board. The drawback of each of the recited patents and of all of the prior art known to the applicant resides in the limited numbers of possibilities in the play of the parlor game with a resulting lack of realism in relation to the outdoor game of golf. Indeed, some of the known games were of such a simplified format as to severely limit realism and others, in an attempt to achieve realism, were extremely complex to play, resulting in either boredom or disinterest on the part of a player.